J/AJ/133/2866 2001-02 optical variability of blazar 3C 279 (Kartaltepe+, 2007)
The multiple timescales of optical variability of the blazar 3C 279 during the
2001-2002 outburst.
Kartaltepe J.S., Balonek T.J.
<Astron. J., 133, 2866-2882 (2007)>
=2007AJ....133.2866K 2007AJ....133.2866K
ADC_Keywords: QSOs ; Photometry
Keywords: galaxies: active - galaxies: photometry - quasars: general -
quasars: individual (3C 279)
Abstract:
During 2001-2002 the optically violent variable blazar 3C 279
underwent the most intense outburst seen during the entire 14yr
period that this quasar has been studied at Colgate University's Foggy
Bottom Observatory. This study concentrates on ∼1600 R-filter images
taken during this period of activity. This data set includes 29 nights
of microvariability coverage. The outburst began in 2001 March, after
3C 279 had faded to its faintest level, R=15.5, in 4yr. The source
reached its brightest level, R=12.5, in the 14yr of our study in
2001 August, at which time it became unobservable due to its proximity
to the Sun. On becoming observable again in 2001 mid-December, 3C 279
fluctuated between R=13.9 and 14.7, until a dramatic decrease in
flux level in 2002 June-July brought the source back down to a level
comparable to its preoutburst state. The source exhibited numerous
week-long flares of approximately 1mag during the outburst period.
Superposed on these flares were night-to-night variations of up to
0.5mag and intranight microvariability of up to 0.13mag in 3hr. We
use visual inspection of the light curve, as well as numerical
timescale analysis tools (the autocorrelation function, the structure
function, and the power spectrum), to characterize the multiple
timescales of variability ranging from 1.5yr to several hours.
Description:
Between 1989 and 2002, over 4600 images of 3C 279 on nearly 800 nights
were taken at Colgate University's FBO using a Ferson 16 inch (40cm)
Newtonian/Cassegrain reflecting telescope equipped with Photometrics
PM3000 and Star I CCD systems.
Objects:
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RA (2000) DE Designation(s)
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12 56 11.2 -05 47 22 3C 279 = 4C -05.55
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File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
table1.dat 30 784 Microvariability Coverage Measurements
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: table1.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 10 A10 "DD/MM/YYYY" Obs.Date UT Date of the observation
12- 17 F6.4 h Obs.h UT Hour of the observation
19- 24 F6.3 mag Rmag The R band magnitude
26- 30 F5.3 mag e_Rmag Error in Rmag
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History:
From electronic version of the journal
(End) Greg Schwarz [AAS], Patricia Vannier [CDS] 31-May-2009